Mark Medoff is Uni. Houston's New Director School & Dance

The Tony Award-winning playwright Mark Medoff (Children of a Lesser God and When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?) has
joined the theatre faculty at the University of Houston - where he will take
over the role of teaching playwriting at the UH, following in the footsteps of
Edward Albee and Lanford Wilson - it has been announced by the director of the
University of Houston's School of Theatre & Dance, Steven Wallace.

Medoff's new affiliation with UH continues the University's
long tradition with world-renowned theatre artists who have previously taught
at the School of Theatre & Dance, including the Pulitzer Prize-winners Mr.
Albee and Mr. Wilson, as well as acclaimed directors Sir Peter Hall and Jose
Quintero. Mr. Albee helmed a UH playwriting workshop that was named for him
from 1989 to 2003 before handing the reins to Mr. Wilson, who oversaw student
playwriting from 2004 to 2007.

In his "Playwriting" course, Mr. Medoff will
assist aspiring playwrights as they craft news plays that will be developed
through the course of the semester and, ultimately, will be presented in staged
readings during the UH New Play Festival in spring 2008. The following fall
semester, he will continue to oversee these plays, some of which may become
part of the spring 2009 "Producing New Plays" class, and see
fully-realized productions.

Mr. Medoff has previously taught at New
Mexico State University, as well as at University
of Oklahoma, and Florida State
University, where he
worked alongside MR. Wallace during the latter's tenures at both schools before
moving to the position at UH School of Theatre &Dance earlier this year.

Medoff's playwriting credits include 1974's "When You
Comin' Back, Red Ryder?" and 1980's "Children of a Lesser God,"
which received the Tony for Best Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding
New Play. Medoff adapted both of these plays for film. He was nominated for an
Oscar for his screen adaptation of "Children of Lesser God." Other
screenwriting credits include "Clara's Heart" starring Whoopi
Goldberg and "City of Joy"
starring Patrick Swayze. He has also made brief acting appearances in some of
the films he's written. His directing credits include the 2002 film
"Children on Their Birthdays" and stage productions of "Waiting
for Godot," "Equus," "Hot L Baltimore" and "One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

The University of Houston School of Theatre &Dance
offers bachelor's and master's degrees in theatre, teacher certifications in
dance and a master of fine arts. Each fall and spring, the school produces four
plays performed in the Wortham Theatre, two dance concerts, the Stuart OstrowMusical Theatre Workshop, various student productions, the Houston Shakespeare
Festival and The Children's Theatre Festival.